Kang Ling made the move into the FIA European Formula 3 Championship in 2015, joining multiple race-winning team Mücke Motorsport, and made his bow with the team at Silverstone.
The Chinese driver moves into the series having ran partial campaigns in Formula Renault 2.0 ALPS, German and British Formula 3 and the GP3 Series in 2014 with minimal success, but is eager to show improvement in his driving this season.
Talking to The Checkered Flag, Kang Ling revealed it was an early trip to a go-karting track that opened his eyes to motorsport, and insisted moving up to European Formula 3 was the right move for him rather than race in the GP3 Series, in which he raced in the Abu Dhabi finale in 2014 with Trident.
“When I was seven, I entered in a park where there is a go-kart track, than I try and I liked it,” revealed Kang Ling. “I achieved a lot in the early days but [I’m] not so happy about the two recent years.
“Due to health problem, I only managed to run the last two days tests of last winter, and Mücke is the only team I have test. They work until really late, and their facilities are really good. [F3 was the logical step as] I can drive more and learn more than [I could in] GP3.”
Kang Ling made his debut at Silverstone, but retired in both the first and third races and finished twenty-first in the second. He admitted it was hard in qualifying with so many cars on track.
“[Qualifying is] Very important, [as it is] hard to overtake in F3 as the corner speed is fast,” said Kang Ling. “[Starting in the midfield] was hard, no good feeling.
“[Silverstone was] really difficult, I struggled all the weekend with the balance and twice crashed during safety car.”
Kang Ling admitted he is eager to get his first points on the board as early as possible, and knows the importance of 2015 with respect to his career and to his sponsors.
“I want to score some points as early as possible, [and make] improvements,” insisted Kang Ling. “This is important. [2015 is] very important, as this is 1/3 year of my sponsor plan.”
